Journal Policy

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

All submitted manuscripts are initially reviewed by the editorial staff. Manuscripts that, in the editor’s judgment, do not meet the journal’s aims, scope, or basic quality criteria will be rejected without external review.

Manuscripts considered potentially suitable and of interest to the journal’s readership will be forwarded for double-blind peer review. Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editor will make one of the following decisions: rejection, major revision, minor revision, or acceptance. The Editor-in-Chief of Semarang Law Review (SLR) retains full authority over final publication decisions.

Submissions are generally reviewed by two or more independent experts, who are asked to assess whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates previously published work, and whether it is sufficiently clear and rigorous for publication. Editorial decisions are based on reviewers’ reports and, where necessary, consultation with members of the Editorial Board.

SLR applies a structured peer-review policy to ensure the quality and integrity of its publications. The peer-review process consists of the following stages:

Initial Screening

The editor evaluates each submitted manuscript to determine its relevance to the journal’s scope and standards. Manuscripts are also subjected to a similarity check to detect potential plagiarism. Manuscripts deemed unsuitable or found to have excessive similarity will be returned to the authors without further review.

Double-Blind Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent for double-blind peer review, in which both authors’ and reviewers’ identities are concealed. A minimum of two reviewers are assigned to evaluate the manuscript and provide recommendations. Editors are responsible for selecting reviewers and ensuring that no conflicts of interest arise during the review process.

Editorial Decision

The editor makes the final decision regarding the manuscript’s eligibility for publication, based on reviewers’ comments and recommendations.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are strictly prohibited. The journal employs plagiarism detection software to screen all submitted manuscripts. Text similarity and overlap analysis are applied; therefore, appropriate quotation and citation practices must be followed at all times.

For plagiarism screening, the Editorial Board of Semarang Law Review (SLR) uses Turnitin. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% will be immediately rejected.

Prior to publication, authors are required to submit a written Author’s Declaration of Originality. This declaration must be signed by at least one author who has obtained the consent of all co-authors, where applicable.

RETRACTION POLICY

In principle, editors do not act independently in determining which articles are published. Editorial decisions are guided by the policies of the Editorial Board and constrained by applicable legal requirements, including those related to defamation, copyright infringement, duplicate publication, and plagiarism.

Published articles should remain part of the scholarly record and be accurate and unaltered wherever possible. However, in exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to withdraw, retract, or remove a published article. Such actions are undertaken only when strictly necessary and in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Retraction of a published article may be initiated by the journal editor, the author(s), and/or the author’s affiliated institution. In certain cases, a retraction may be accompanied by an apology for the error and/or an acknowledgment of the individual or party who brought the issue to light.

Any retraction must include a clear statement indicating that the article should not be cited or relied upon as part of future research.

ARTICLE WITHDRAWAL

Article withdrawal may occur when an early version of a manuscript contains significant errors or when a manuscript has been inadvertently submitted simultaneously to Semarang Law Review (SLR) and/or another journal. Withdrawal may also result from violations of academic ethical standards, including but not limited to duplicate submission, false authorship claims, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, or similar misconduct.

Articles meeting the criteria for ethical violations may be withdrawn by the author(s), accompanied by a formal withdrawal letter addressed to the Editorial Board of Semarang Law Review (SLR).

ARTICLE RETRACTION

An article will be retracted if it is proven to violate academic ethical standards, including duplicate publication, false authorship, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, ghost authorship, or related misconduct. Retraction may also be used to correct serious errors arising during submission or publication.

Retraction initiated by the author(s) or editor, based on the recommendation of the Editorial Board of Semarang Law Review (SLR), may be implemented as follows:

Before Publication

If ethical violations are identified prior to publication, the manuscript will be returned to the author(s) along with a formal retraction notice issued by the Editor-in-Chief.

After Publication

If ethical violations are identified after publication, one or more of the following measures will be applied:

  • A retraction notice titled “Retraction: [Article Title]”, signed by the author(s) and/or editor, will be published in a subsequent issue of the journal and listed in the table of contents.

  • The online version of the article will be preceded by a retraction notice screen, with a link directing readers to the notice before accessing the article.

  • The original article will remain accessible in its original form, except that the PDF version will be clearly marked with a “Retracted” watermark.

  • The HTML version of the article will be removed.

ARTICLE REMOVAL: LEGAL RESTRICTIONS

In extremely limited circumstances, it may be necessary to remove an article from the online database of Semarang Law Review (SLR). This action will only be taken if the article is demonstrably defamatory, constitutes misinformation, infringes the legal rights of others, is subject to a court order, or poses a threat to national security.

In such cases, the article’s metadata (title and author information) will remain available, while the full text will be replaced with a notice stating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.

ARTICLE REPLACEMENT

In cases where a published article, if acted upon, could pose a serious risk to health or safety, the original authors may decide to retract the flawed article and replace it with a corrected version. In such cases, the standard retraction procedure will be followed, with the modification that the removal notice will include a link to the corrected and republished article, along with a clear document history.